Any Ideas for Recent Problem

Hello All. Hoping someone has some thoughts on recent problem. Still have about 2 months left on my 2 year warranty on my 17, but was hoping for some ideas on what I may look for. Out for a nice little back road toot this morning. Bikes been running Mint. Came to a stop sign. Started off in first gear and got a sudden knocking ping and then stalled. Started back up but barely idling around 900 rpms. Give it gas and its stuttering like crazy and then wicked backfiring. I feathered it up to around 4,000 rpms and it smoothed out and was able to shift fine. I was about 18 miles from home so I babied it back and it seemed to be running ok at around 4,000 rpms and up (but it does seem like a lack of power from normal), but once you slow down, it chokes and pukes and backfires..... So, I get it home and I checked the battery. All connections are good and plenty of juice. I pulled the plugs and they both look fine to me. Plug wires seemed to be fine. Everything clean and tight. It seemed like fuel or electric related when it died ... doesn't seem to be mechanical, the motor sounds fine, but I have no idea. A gave it some time and started it back up... maybe thinking the computer needed to reset or something, but the same conditions exist. I did the valves and throttle bodies at 1250 miles and all was perfect! Bike has been running fantastic...up to now. Valves are quiet, fueling has been fine.... Its 100 percent stock. Its got 5,300 miles on the clock and always gets the best gas. Hoping for some ideas on what to check... hoping I dont need to bring it in to the shop, they're telling me 2 or 3 week backlog. Any Clues? Thanks So Much!! John

Definitely sounds like one of your sparkplug caps are arcing.  Take the covers off the top of the cylinders.   Start the bike in your garage with the door closed and lights off.  You will probably see arcing.   I would be willing to bet a pint this is your problem.   A quick temporary fix is to wrap some electrical tape around the sparkplug cap.  

It is a common problem on many of the newer MG bikes.  The fix is easy.  Check out this thread.  

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Thanks for that. Very Interesting, I remember reading about the plug wires before, but I didn't think that was the problem here, but, the third post in that thread is Exactly what happened to my GRiSO. So anyway, after sitting a while, I disconnected the battery, pulled the main fuses. Let it sit and then re-connected everything. Fired right up.... idle was going up and down for about a minute, then settled down to 1250, and ran smoother than shit. I Took it out and all seems normal again. So happy... guess I panicked a little too early. Taking the weekend off and planned on doing a bunch of ridin with the great weather we're FINALLY getting here. Anyway, it may still be an issue with the plug wires.....I'm going to throw some tape on them tonight and probably swap them out for the NGK's after ordering some, but it may have just been that I gimped the ECU fueling somehow....maybe snappin the throttle a little too aggressively, and it just needed to re-boot itself. My dealer at the shop suggested I try that and it worked!! Happy Happy Joy Joy! Thanks for the Help!

I'd agree. HT leads-replace the plug caps. I replaced mine when I got it, on this forum's advice.

What these guys say.

Ya, somehow missed all the old conversations about the plug caps. Most likely the culprit. After you guys told me about them I went back and read all the info on them. Did a prelim tape job on the caps and wires and then ordered the new caps. Rode the rest of the weekend without any issues. Ran like a Top! Man, I Love It when that bike is running Good!! Thanks Everyone for the Input!

Does this issue also effect the 2v 1100?
changed my fuel filter the day before after it came away from the pump and left me stranded.
All was good for the first 15 miles, then the same sort of things happened. Wouldnt tick over, really rough runing and difficult to get over 4000 revs

Not usually.

When you did the filter did you change the short hose? Early CARC bikes and a few other earlier models had the pump assemblies built with a non submersible hose. If it wasn't replaced it will blow off again. Replace it with fully submersible hose. Gates makes it, it's not cheap.

Yes, i replaced both hoses as the short one had blown off. Couldn't remove the crinkley long one so replaced that too. Used thick rubber fuel hose.

Yes. But was it fully submersible? This is a different compound to that used in *normal* hose that only has to function with the outer layer in the atmosphere. Submersible hose is expensive, (Over here a 6-7 inch length will set you back $50 or more.) but it is vital if you wish to avoid further issues in the future.

One possibility is the the hose you have used is collapsed because of too tight bends.

I somewhere have a pic of the Gate's hose with its part#. I'll try and dig out the pic if nobody else comes up with a suitable substitute.

guzzitim1100, if you want a cheaper alternative to the Gates fuel hose in the UK, I fitted the following to my 1100 in 2013.

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Brian

Much better price than I've been able to find anything similar here. Go for it. At that price, what have you lost even if it doesn't work?

Make sure there are no tight bends anywhere in the hose lines.

Pete

Thanks guys. I will buy some of tbis hose Brian and give it a try. Will let you know how i get on.

1100s had a stupid arrangment of the components, the short pipe was taking too much stress.
1200s have the same components, arranged correctly

GRiSO 1100:
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GRiSO 1200:
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as the filter is reverced, mind the fuel flow indication on the filter, should always point from the pump to the tank outlet

So the 1200 arrangement would also work for the 1100. Looks to be more efficient to me with a lot less pipe work to get twisted up which is what seems to be happening. Will do this when the new pipe arrives.